Photoelectric system for multiplying and translating electrical impulses



Aug. 4, 1936. KwARTlN I 2,049,911 PHOTOELECTRIG SYSTEM FOR MULTIPLYING AND TRANSLATING ELECTRICAL IMPULSES Filed March 14, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 gam ll I 24 wwfi AMI- BERNARD KwARTm Aug. 4, 1936. B. KWARTINI 2,049,911 PHOTOELECTRIC SYSTEM FOR MULTIPLYING AND TRANSLATING ELECTRICAL IMPULSES F iled March 14, 1951 2 Shets-Sheet 2 fiwerflor BERNARD KWARTIN Patented Aug. 4, 1936 UNITED STATES I PHOTOELECTRIC SYSTEM FOR MULTIPLY- ING AND TRANSLATING ELECTRICAL IM- PULSES Bernard Kwartin, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application March 14, 1931, Serial No. 522,760

2 Claims.

' The present invention relates to the translation and recordation of sound and light eflects and more particularly to an improved apparatus or system wherein photo-electric means is employed not only to translate sound and light effects emanating from an original source or from a photographic record thereof into corresponding electrical impulses but also to multiply the impulses so obtained.

In connection with the electrical translation of sound and. light effects, many serious difliculties have been encountered in the various attempts to faithfully reproduce these effects, particularlyin those instances when it is attempted to materially. amplify the electrical impulses or current variations which correspond to the sound or light efiects as originally produced or as originally recordedf It is well known, for example, that when sounds to be transmitted are amplified to an exaggerated extent they are so distorted in reproduction as to be practically unrecognizable. It is also well known that exaggerated'amplification of the'sounds not only prohibits the faithful reproduction of the very delicate overtones which give character and quality to speech and musical sounds but also renders it practically impossible to' clearly and distinctly define the nuances between sounds of strongest and weakest character, On the'other hand, those familiar with the art of electrically reproducing sound and light effects and with the art of electrically transmitting the same, realize that the most faithful reproduction thereof is obtained with a minimum amount of amplification. However, this minimum amplification is usually insufficient to insure the transmission or reproduction of sounds insufficient volume, as where the sounds are intended to be heard by alarge audience spread over an extensive area.

It is among theprincipal objects of the present invention to provide an apparatus for and system or method of transmitting sound or light effects whereby a maximum volume of these effects is obtained in the reproduction thereof with a minimum amplification of the current variations which are" established in accordance with these effectsas originally produced. v

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of a photo-electric system of transmitting sounds whereby soundorlight effects as originally produced may be simultaneously transmitted to and reproduced at points remote from one another, the corresponding electrical impulses received at the several pointsbeing separately and individually amplified as desired and in such'man'ner that the amplificationhad at one point' exerts no influence whatsoever upon th impulses received at any other point.

7 Still another object'of the present invention is the provision of a system for transmitting sound 5 which is admirably suited for public addresses and the like and wherein a plurality of sound reproducing instruments derive their energy from a single source and wherein the number of the instruments so employed may be considerably in- 10 creased without necessitating a corresponding increase in the energy supplied from said source.

Still another object of the' invention is to provide a system or method of increasing the 'volume of transmitted electrical impulses wherein 15 is employed a single light source the intensity of which varies in accordance with the impulses as originally produced in combination with a plurality of'photo-electric cells which are ar: ranged to be individually but simultaneously infl'uencedby the variable light so-urce'for respectively actuating a plurality of electrically operated devices, the value of the energy supplied to each of said devices being adjustable as conditions warrant independently'of the value of the energy supplied to any of the other loud' devices and independently of'thevalue of the current flowing in the circuit in which the light source is included.

Still another and important object of the'present invention is the provision of a system'or method of simultaneously producing a plurality of photographic records ofqsounds as originally produced wherein'a single variablelight source is employed for variably energizingas many different auxiliary light'sources as there are rec,- ords to be produced, the system being of such character that theenergy received by one of said auxiliary light sources is entirely unaffected by anyyariations in energy supplied to any of the other auxiliary light sources. From the foregoing, it will be observed that in general the object of the present invention is to provide a single source of variable energy which is capable'ofj energizing a'plurality of electrically operated devices, the energy of'the said single source being neither diminished nor increased nor otherwise affected bythe increase or decrease in the number of devices employed. a 7 Other objects of the invention will-appear more fully hereinafter. l The "invention consists substantially in the combination, constructionjlocation and relative arrangement of parts'andin the methodof using the' same, all as will appear morefully' hereinafter, as shown in the accompanying drawings, and as finally pointed out in the appended claims. In the said accompanying drawings wherein I showed preferred arangements embodying the principles of this invention and which drawings are intended solely for illustrative purposes:-

Figure l is a more or less diagrammatic view showing one form of arrangement for carrying out the principles of the present invention and wherein the sounds as received by a microphone are reproduced by a plurality of loud speakers;

Figure 2 is a similar view wherein the sounds reproduced by a plurality of loud speakers emanate from a photographic film record thereof; and

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view showing an arrangement wherein the invention is employed to obtain a plurality of photographic master film records of sounds as originally produced and received by a single microphone.

Referring now to the drawings and more par-' tioularly to Figure 1 thereof, it will be observed that the sounds which are to be transmitted or reproduced are initially received by a suitable microphone ill or similar device which is adapted to convert the sound vibrations as originally produced into corresponding electrical current variations. These current variations which are thus set up in the microphone circuit 1 I are employed to energize an actinic lamp I2 or other source of light capable of producing light rays of varying intensity. It will be understood, of course, that the intensity of the light rays which emanate from the primary source of light I2 is entirely dependent upon and is in accordance with the current variations established in the microphone circuit II.

g If desired, the current variations established in the microphone circuit H may be suitably ampli-; fied preliminarily to energizing the lamp l2. Suitably arranged to be influenced by thelight variationsemanating from. the primaryglamp l2 are a plurality of photo-electric cells I3. I These photo-electric cells l3 are preferably positioned with respect to the primary source of light such that each of them is similarly influenced to establish similar currentfiuetuations in the photoelectric cell circuits ll. Inasmuch as the light rays which emanate from the light source &2 are of the. same intensity in all directions, it is obvious that as many photo-electric cells 113- may be. employed as can be conveniently positioned symmetrically about the source of light. Each of the photo-electric cells B is included in-any suitable type of amplifying circuit 15 for supplyinga variable current to the respective sound reproducing devices, such as theloud speakers l6.- It will be understood that a separate loud speaker I6. is employed for each photo-electric cell l3 and that the number of loud speakers employed is dependent solely upon the number of phcto-electric cells which. can be conveniently positioned symmetrically with respect to the light source 12. It will thus be seen. that by increasingthe number of photo-electric cells [3 and-their associated loudspeakers the volume of the transmitted. sounds may be increased very considerably without, however, necessitating any change whatsoever in the: energy originally supplied to the. light-source l2. By virtue of the arrangement shown in Figure 1, even the feeblest sound received by the microphone H1 is converted into a corresponding light variation which is suflicient to'immediately and simultaneously influence. all of the photo-electric cells whereby there is: produced by the other loud speaker.

duced a multiplied volume of sounds. Due to the fact that the current variations established in the microphone circuit II are not amplified to an exaggerated extent, the sound as produced by the loud speaker 16, although very markedly increased in volume, are not distorted and are faithful reproductions of the sounds as originally produced. If desired, and in some instances it may be preferable to do so, suitable means may be introduced in the'several photo-electric cell circuits or in the several loud speaker circuits, to control the volume of sounds produced by each loud speakeraindependently of the volume pro- This may be of great advantage in those cases where a public address is being received by audiences situated in different rooms'or in different buildings the sizes of which vary and in consequence of which it would be desirable to diminish or increase the volume of the sound received by any one audience. ,Figure 2 shows the application of the present invention to the transmission of sounds which have been recorded upona photographic film H. In such an arrangement the film I'l travels past a constant source of light l8,- The light rays ema nating from thelamp [8 pass through the photographic film record and are received by a photoelectric cell l9. This photo-electric cell I9 is thus influenced to establish varying current fluctuations in the photo-electric cell circuit 20 which maybe amplified, as at 2|, preliminarily to variably energizing a primary source of light 22. This primary source of light 22 is in all respects similar to the actinic lamp. l2 of- Figure 1 and is surrounded by a plurality of symmetrically positioned photo-electriccells 23. As in the former arrangement, each of these photo-electric cells 23 is in electrical circuit with and is adapted to actuate a loudspeaker 24. With the exception of the source of sound, thearrangement of Figure 2 is similar in all respects with that of Figure 1. I Figure 3 illustrates the application of the present invention to the production of a plurality of photographic-.master film records 25 of sounds as originally produced, As in the former instance, the sounds as originally produced are received by a microphone 25 by which the sounds are converted into corresponding electrical current variations. These latter variations variably energize a variable source of light 21 whereby to produce light rays of varying intensity for influencing the photo-electric cells 28. Each of these photo-electric cells converts the light rays into corresponding electrical current variations, these latter in turnbeing employed to energize secondary light sources 29. These secondary light sources 29 are each in the form of an actinic lamp, or its equivalent and are each capable of producing light rays of varyingintensity in accordance with the current variations established in its respective photo-electric cell circuit. As many photographic film records can thus be obtained as there are photo-electric cells 28 grouped about the single primary source of light 21.. As in the arrangementspreviously described, the energy supplied to. any one of the secondary actinic lamps 29 does not aifect the energy supplied to the remaining actinic lamp 29 and inasmuch as each ofthe latter isv similarly energized a plurality of photographic film records is obtained at one and the same time. Each of these records so obtainedmay be used as a master record of the sounds received by the single microphone 26.

While in the foregoing specificationthe invention hasbeen describedmore particularly in its application to the transmission, recordation and reproduction of sounds and sound effects, it will be understood that the same is equally applicable for translating and multiplying light and other efiects which are capable of being converted into corresponding electrical impulses such as are employed in connection with telephotography, television and the like.

It will be understood of course that various changes may be made from time to time in the arrangement and in the methods herein shown and described without departing from the real spirit or general principles'of the invention, and it is accordingly intended to claim the same broadly, as well as specifically, as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and useful:-

1. In a sound translating system, in combination, means for establishing electrical current variations in accordance with the sounds to be reproduced, means energizable by said current variations for producing light rays the intensities of which vary in accordance with said originally produced current variations, a plurality of photoelectric elements located with respect to said light producing means asto be uniformly influenced thereby, and. a plurality of electrically operated sound reproducing devices respectively associated with each of said photo-electric elements for independently reproducing the sounds simultaneously and at differently located points.

2. In a system for producing simultaneously a plurality of similar records of sounds as originally produced, in combination, means for receiving said sounds and converting the same into corresponding electrical current variations, a light producing element energizable by said current variations to produce variable light rays, a plurality of light sensitive devices adapted to be independently but similarly influenced by said variable light rays whereby to establish a plurality of independent current variations which are respectively in accordance with the originally produced sound vibrations, and a plurality of variable light producing elements respectively associated with each of said devices for producing a corresponding number of similar records of the sounds.

BERNARD KWARTIN. 

